My Kithen Update

When I left you last the kitchen re-do had begun. We had all the cupboards emptied out, and  the contractor was coming to do his thing.

The appliances were removed, the floors were covered and the work began with tearing out the 36 year old tile.

The tile is all gone and now the underlayment is being removed. I was amazed at how small this made my kitchen look.

Look Mom, no tops!!

This is where the trouble began……

(insert scary music)

 

With very careful measuring my contractor discovered that my cabinets were off level from one side of the kitchen to the other by 1 3/4inches. That is more than is within industry standards!

Major discussions ensued on how to remedy this problem.

We decided to sleep on it. My hubby, who is super logical, and tends to be a perfectionist when he does a job, and I (who is beyond a perfectionist) discussed the options, and decided to do it right.

Decision was made....all of the cabinets had to come out on the bottom.

Needless to say, this totally unnerved me! I am not good at the tearing out part. I like the building up, and making pretty part.

I felt as if my kitchen was undergoing surgery.

The cabinets were all leveled with new frames to sit on.

SIDE STORY:

I am sure some of you might be wondering why we are trying so hard to save the 36 year old cabinets, and why don't we just get new.

You see my sweet Hubby's Dad was a cabinet maker and he built these cabinets, and my Hubby helped him. They are more than just cupboards to us. They are a part of Pop, and a very sweet memory for my hubby.

We both remember being a little nervous to show Pop our cabinets after they were painted, he was a lover of wood and it's beautiful grain patterns.

He told us that he thought this was the prettiest kitchen he had ever seen.

Toward the end of his life he did not even remember he had built our kitchen. He suffered with dementia.

He would grin at us and say, " These cupboards? Nah! I didn't build these." "Really?!" We assured him that yes in fact he did build them.

So you see we have to save them!!! 

The cabinets were all put back on their new frames, and the plywood underlayment was put in place and the template was made.

When using a slab of natural stone it is imperative that the cabinets are level. You do not want any strain on any part of the stone or you might get an unwanted CRACK!! Horrors!

I am very fortunate that my contractor is quite the perfectionist, and he reads me well. He checks every little detail with me, he never assumes anything.

It is Monday and we are now back on track. We lost a few days and a few dollars, but it was all fixable. Feeling very thankful and relieved today.

Later today we are going to my contractors shop, and see our slabs again. We will place the template on the stone where we want it to be cut. I think today of all days is really going to make this all seem real to me!!!

Other post about my kitchen redo:
HERE
HERE
HERE
HERE